The Divide
by Damonica
Summary: Their world is being taken by the Heartless. There are only two options: Flee or Fight. When the survivors are utterly divided on their choice, they split up and go their separate ways. Rated T just in case.
1. Flee or Fight?

**Flee or Fight?**

Once, there existed a kingdom that possessed more pure, eerie beauty than any before it, or indeed any that were ever to follow. In this world, barren, rocky mountains coated thick in ice rose high, some said even higher than the ever-present mist that encircled them. No one knew, for long before a human would reach the peak they should die from lack of oxygen. The cities, they had been carved straight out of the white rock of the mountain by the very first humans who had came here. Why they had come, no one knew any longer. Perhaps they too had been fleeing some great threat. The people had lived happily there, flourishing for many a century. They were a proud and often cold people, but not unkind and extremely intelligent. But alas, it was not to be. For three months, the world of Lyflia had been under siege from Heartless. The shadows crept forwards slowly, eventually encasing the planet in darkness and blocking out all traces of light in both the sky above and in hearts of the people living there. The few humans who clung to their feeble existence had gathered in the last un-infested building, for the purpose of deciding their fate.

* * *

"They're outside now! Were right behind me!" a scrawny kid, blonde spiky hair in a mess and bright blue eyes wide in fear, panted, collapsing on the cold stone floor as soon as he made it inside the building.

"Quick! Bar the door!" an older teenager barked out orders and those standing near the entrance hastily complied. Not a moment too soon, as immediately after the slab of stone had been slotted in place did the Heartless begin bombarding the building, slamming their own formless bodies against the door and causing it to shudder dangerously, however the rock held firm.

"Roxas?" Another boy, practically identical to the first, albeit noticeably less skinny, walked up to the human doormat and offered him a helping hand. "Anyone else still out there?" he inquired urgently, dreading the answer. If it was no, it must mean that the entire rest of the first boy's group, had been... And if it was yes, it would undoubtedly already be too late, and they'd be forced endanger how many precious lives in a futile attempt to recover them? Anyone who fell behind would have to be left behind. It was the hard truth. Luck seemed to be with them, however, because Roxas, the boy who had been being chased by the Shadows, shook his head.

"I don't think so," he muttered. He accepted his twin's help and managed to return to a vertical position. "Ventus!" he exclaimed, realizing who it was. "You're alright!"

Ven nodded. "C'mon. There'll be time for that later," he hoped. "Everyone's waiting," Ventus added, looking towards the large, ornate door that lead into the next room, to which the previous occupants of this hall had already vacated in favor of.

"Right."

* * *

Inside, the domed ceiling was so high, it was almost indistinguishable from the straight, white walls. A small crowd huddled in the centre of the hall, looking scared, dirty, hungry and generally pitiful. They were aged from as young as four, to the oldest in late twenties, or early thirties. This was because as the Heartless began to swarm over the land, the adults, who had already lived the better part of their lives, simply gave up. Few had the will to fight, or anything left to fight for. They were content with their deaths. But the young one's, they had their whole lives ahead of them! Nothing to lose. So they banded together, ran or fought, with those who were weak dropping like flies, quickly weeded out. Now only the strongest remained, cornered here in the cathedral.

As the latecomers made their entrance, the hubbub subsided, and they looked around each other for someone to step forward and lead them. When it became apparent that no one else was going to, the young woman sighed and did so herself. At nineteen years old, she sported blue hair and blue eyes, neither particularly uncommon in this world, and no remarkable beauty either, although her elegance on the battlefield was undisputedly unparallel to any of the Lyflians present. Many looked up in surprise; they had not excepted Aqua to fancy the role, for although she was a person of responsibility, as well as a great fighter, and she had proved herself many a time, even leading her own group against the invasion, she was not what you would call a natural born commander.

"Listen up everyone!" she called, her voice echoing strangely off the walls. "What we need to do here is decide our next move."

There was plenty of muttering after that. _What do we have to decide upon?_ was the majority's thought. There was doubt in everyone's eyes, even, to her dismay, her best friend and comrade Ven's, standing beside his twin Roxas near the back.

"What can we do?" one particularly pessimistic boy yelled up at her over the voices. Everyone quietened to hear her answer.

Aqua swallowed. She'd been anticipating this question. "Choose whether we flee... Or whether we fight."

If the gathering had been loud before, it was nothing to the roar of disorder that followed this statement. It was the question that had been debated from the moment the very first Heartless reaped it's first human life in Lyflia, and had completely divided the people. Did they run from the Shadows, travelling from one place to the next like nomads, until they were pursued no more, or did they stand strong and engage the enemy in battle, until only one side remained in Lyflia? Aqua's own group had originally been part of the warriors, but eventually all who had not resorted to running had been overrun. But it was no longer an issue of leaving their homes, districts or even cities. It was now a question of whether they could forsake their whole WORLD to go in search of a better one; something they weren't sure even existed. They had developed space travel, even a ship that could take them all, the _INFI_. But it had never before been used. The outside was so uncertain, and few Lyflians had any wish to attempt such a venture, that is, before the Heartless laid siege to their world. Space travel also opened up a huge array of problems... Like what would they eat? Who would pilot? Who would navigate? Even if they did discover a new planet, and one on which they could survive, what of any other inhabitants? What kind of welcome would they give aliens? But if they stayed... Aqua shuddered at the image of one by one, watching what little was left of her friends and family fall.

"ORDER!" she shouted. Gradually, yet again the voices dwindled and they turned to her for guidance. Aqua took a deep breath. The magnitude of the decision they were about to make hit her, and she swayed a little on the spot. This was it.

**"Those in favour of taking the INFI to find a new world... Step to the left. Those who would stay and reclaim Lyflia... Step to the right."**


	2. Divided

**Divided**

There had some fifty people standing in the center of the room. Now, the Lyflians were divided. By Aqua's count, twenty-two stood to the right, including, she noticed, Lexaeus; a strongly built man in his early twenties who had, for a while, been a member of her group. And wishing to leave, twenty-five, one being Zexion, a close friend of Lexaeus, but clearly of the studious type rather than the fighting. Five people yet lingered in the center, including herself and the twins, undecided. Both sides shouted their best arguments, attempting to sway the indecisive one way or another. If someone was friends with one, they begged and pleaded with them. If someone disliked one, they screamed insults, calling them a coward for not choosing their side already. Aqua more than anybody.

"You told us to chose!" they challenged. "Now it's your turn!"

Ventus and Roxas exchanged looks, torn. They had friends on either side, and they didn't wish to leave anyone.

The last two however, had clearly made up their minds, and no guessing needed with the way they expressed it. Riku and Xion had been dating for nearly two years now. Riku was the stereotypical male Lyfian; cool and arrogant, while Xion was just the opposite; quiet yet fiery, but they'd always been like peanut butter and jelly; utterly different, yet perfect and inseparable. Now, silver and black hair was flying as the two yelled at each other, and the babble of the rest of the hall was once again vanquished.

"EVERYONE WHO STAYS; EVERYONE OVER THERE," Riku pointed forcefully, his arm shaking, at the right side of the room, "THEY ARE ALL GOING TO DIE."

The side in question began retorting angrily; "Wanna fight?" one glared, drawing out his sword, but this was quickly drowned out by Xion's reply; "YOU'RE WRONG!" she shouted, shocking everyone, as they practically didn't even know what her voice sounded like, she was normally such a quiet girl. "IF WE WORK TOGETHER, WE CAN TAKE LYFLIA BACK! COWARD!"

Dismayed, Aqua stepped forward to break them up, but on noticing her presence, Riku turned on her. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! Giving them the idea that they have something to stay and fight FOR! Can't you see what a hopeless cause Lyflia is? We should leave with our lives, while we still can!" There was no reasoning with Riku when he got like this. Hurt, but trying not to let it show, Aqua took at step back and observed the situation. She began to see Roxas, who'd always had a soft spot for Xion, despite her and Riku being an item, waiver. Ven wasn't likely to leave his twin so soon after their reunion, and he was Aqua's best friend. With Riku and Xion on opposing sides, this made the score 26:26.

Her heart fell. They would not be able to unite. The last of the Lyflians would scatter. And then…

_CRACK._

That couldn't be… Aqua paled in shock. A section of the left wall seemed to simply give way. Without a second's delay, the shadows began pouring into the building, infesting the last corner of the city.

* * *

Chaos ensued. Some drew their swords, some backed away, everyone was yelling or screaming. Soon the Heartless were overrunning the room. Right in front of him, Riku watched into horror as a girl was smothered by the darkness, suffocating to death. A cold, slightly clammy hand clasped his and he looked into Xion's beautiful blue eyes. Their disagreement vanished in that moment and they were united again with one purpose; to get away. _Even she has to admit this place was lost_, Riku thought, with just a hint of superiority. But no time for that. They sprinted together towards the end of the hall, as they did so others began to join suit. He saw Aqua dragging one of the twins (the other nowhere to be seen), running for a small side door; one which led down into the basement, where the _INFI_ was being kept, calling for everyone to follow. But before they'd gone three meters in her direction, they were confronted by a shadow; a large Heartless glob oozing out of the ground, antennae twitching wildly.

_SMACK!_

Xion's hand had flown to the hilt of the sword strapped to her waist, but she hadn't even started drawing it when the darkness turned to smoke and dissipated, leaving a ruffled, out-of-breath Zexion in it's stead.

"Go on," he panted, quickly running another through with his short sword. Riku nodded, not trusting himself enough to speak; _he was getting all choked up!_ then dashed onwards, Xion in tow. Zexion gave them a few shadowy-pursuit-free minutes, but it wasn't long before more were on their tail. This time there was no one else around to fight them off, and the two had to rely on their own strength. Fortunately, these Shadows were weak and would be pushovers, if only it weren't for their numbers. As it was, they consumed valuable time. Slashing through one Heartless, then the next, Riku realized that people had stopped coming. No one else was going for the spaceship. He didn't stop to think about what that could mean. If they didn't hustle, the _INFI_ was going to leave without them. There was nothing for it. Pulling themselves together, the two turned tail and ran full pelt for the door, down the curling steps, hacking through a couple of Heartless that got in their way, until they stopped dead at the sight of the huge, sleek ship. Despite the situation and everything that they'd been through the past month, really seeing her for the first time, the _INFI_ was stunning. Could that strange thing really traverse outer space, and take them to other worlds? _No time to waste wondering_, Riku thought, and strode up onto the boarding ramp.

_SLAM._

Just Riku's bad luck. The sudden movement of the vessel slammed Riku's face hard into the ramp; that was going to leave bruises. Ignoring it, he scrambled back to the edge, holding his hand out to Xion. The ramp was rising slowly. He slid down a few feet before getting a grip.

"XION!" he yelled.

She too had been blown backwards by the ship, but at the sound of his voice picked herself up and reached desperately for him.

Time stood still...

The _INFI_, hovering in midair, just a few inches of the ground, prepared to take flight, and zoom off into space…

The inches between their hands closed... They touched... Fumbled… Then her hand slid out of his, and once again Riku was thrust backwards, this time rolling all the way inside, in a style worthy of an Olympic medal, and landing in a befuddled heap. The ramp was automated lifted up and melded back to become a part of the_ INFI_'s wall. The spaceship rocketed out and into the open air at an alarming speed, until it was just a sparkle in the sky, then nothing.

Xion lay on the cold stone floor of the Lyflian building, unmoving.

**And with that, cliché yet inevitable tragedy, the few remaining Lyflians were divided.  
**


	3. All Aboard

**All Aboard  
**

The _INFI_ shuddered and swerved in flight, a hard left, but that wasn't what caused Riku to awaken. Inside, the turbulence was minimized until rendered practically nonexistent. But as he slowly recuperated from the initial shock of the invasion, and the rush that followed, the low mutter of voices grew in strength enough to reach his ears, and despite all feeble attempts to block them out, the sounds persevered, continuing to tug him towards reality.

Separate voices and words became distinguishable. Some were panicking or bewildered, unable to comprehend the turn of events. "W-what just happened?" one young girl stammered slightly, hugging her stuffed animal for support. Others simply fell to pieces, crying; many had close friends, relatives or comrades who hadn't made it. To get so far, so close; many had just been reunited with friends and family they had thought lost, and to lose them now was crushing.

Now one voice stood out from the others. Unlike the majority of the clamor, this one was angry. "Let go of me! Let me go back!"

_Shut up_, Riku groaned mentally, curling into a tighter ball. He wasn't ready for this. He didn't want to consider what had just happened; like one would delay the moment of departure from a warm bath, he wanted to wallow in blissful ignorance just a moment longer...

"No... I have to go back!" the voice continued to protest. And Riku remembered, as well. _I have to go back too_, he thought desperately, then with slow detached movements he forced himself to uncoil into a sitting position, and tentatively, he cracked one eye open. The scene blurred then sharpened into focus.

One golden-haired twin (_Ven?_ After that chaos, it could be either. Everyone looked the same in the ship's pale blue glow), was arguing hotly with Aqua. She was trying to reason with him.

"I couldn't have left you behind!" she paused in distress. "You saw it..." Aqua couldn't bring herself to say it. That their home world...

He was shaking, anger, grief, exhaustion... Perhaps even he didn't know which. "You had- no right.. I wanted to stay... I wanted to _fight_..."

The look in her eyes hardened. If they left people wishing that Lyflia was still there... They couldn't doubt it, not if they wanted to move on. "Lyflia is gone." she had finally said it.

* * *

After a time, the babble faded and the group fell into some kind of stupor, their dulled blank eyes boring holes into the walls as they drowned in their dismay. This was the stare of a person who'd lost everything. Riku could see his own pain, identical, reflected in them, and it hurt. And yet, soon it was replaced with something else; the itch to act. Riku had never been one for sitting still. They couldn't just lie around... They had to do something... Even Aqua seemed subdued; any flair for leadership that had sparked earlier had since burnt out. In that moment, the spaceship jolted to one side, thrusting him forward like an encouraging push to the back. _He_ had to do something. If anything was going to be done here, he'd have to do it himself. _What would she have done?_

* * *

Elsewhere in the ship, a young teenage girl, no older than sixteen, was one step ahead, already exploring the ship. It was strange, but she appeared to not spare a thought towards those they had just left behind, and the place where she had spent her entire life, until now. Mind solely on the task at hand, she brushed the irritating loose hair; blond of color, that had been obstructing the x-ray function, among others, of her dark glasses; _why had she not thought to bring a hair tie?_,and checked out the rooms in a methodical order, crossing the hallway each time and leaving no door unopened; evidence of a well-organized mind, considering the wobbly flight of the ship, and everything else. She pondered with moderate annoyance when someone else would get their lazy butt around to fixing it for her. She herself, of course, was far too busy.

After examining a dozen or so rooms, she decided it was a good thing so few had managed to board the ship; curiously enough, the vessel had already been decked out with supplies, filling several of the rooms. Evidently, it hadn't been anyone very intelligent, as they had chosen the main line of food to be triple-gummy, chocolate-chip and fried-egg ice-cream (complete with toffee-cones and many, many boxes of cinnamon sprinkles on the side). Not even her favorite flavor. _Well, you win some, you lose some_, she conceded.

* * *

"Let's do a rollcall," he found himself saying, if only to break the ice, and with some luck, a few out of their daze. To his disappointment, the only response he received was a few heads nodding glumly in accent. However, he refused to let this discourage him, simply proceeding to make mental list of those present.

_Myself, Aqua... Roxas? Or Ventus? (_"It's _Roxas_," the boy in question confirmed with a somewhat irritated look when he noticed Riku staring with a confused expression at him) ..._ Payne_ (he groaned)_ and Gene... Lexaeus... _Several he didn't recognize but took the time to commit their faces to memory. There were roughly sixteen or so people in the room total, and he quickly found that many hadn't even wanted to leave in the first place, they'd voted to stay and fight. It was almost funny, how he had ended up with those he'd have handpicked if he'd just stayed at Lyflia. This was going to be problematic, at the very least annoying, but that would have to be dealt with later. Some had been badly injured by Heartless, so it was a huge relief to find they had an adept healer in Gene. Then something struck Riku, as the ship rocked ominously mid-flight. "If this is everyone... Then who's driving?"

* * *

The stupidity of it all was laughable. Riku cussed under his breath as he, followed by several others, dashed across the ship, searching for the cockpit. At one point they were sent forcefully slamming into a wall as the INFI gave what must have been one hell of a turn, considering the reductions the ship's atmospheric system made. How had they not noticed earlier the increasingly wild antics of the ship? How had they not realized that someone needed to fly the thing? Not wasting a moment for relief, he thrust the door open and stared into the small, cramped room, lighted only by the bright fluro controls.

In Lyflia, flying was as vital as walking; with their tall spires, going by foot from place to place just wasn't feasible. Children could learn to glide from as young as the age of five; from there, it was in the hands of the parents. Judging the level of turbulence they were experiencing, Riku should have been justified in expecting someone ranged from seven years to nine. Unfortunately, he had no such luck. The pilot was seventeen, fast asleep and drooling all over the main control panel.

* * *

Always the optimist, Riku reasoned that it could have been worse; it could have been Luxord- eighteen, fast asleep, drooling over the controls AND drunk. But Luxord wasn't on the ship; he was dead, Riku reminded himself, blinking and his eyelashes coming away moist.

Roxas, who had joined him in their little orienteering trip, apparently recovered, grimaced, wiping away the slobber carefully with the end of his sleeve. "Gross, Demyx," he complained, shaking the snoozer awake.

"Ss'my pleasure," was the forthcoming answer, a sleepy drawl, and Demyx closed his eyes again, only half-conscious and sinking. Roxas shook him repeatedly, and when no further response was given, resorted to shoving Demyx off the seat. The latter collapsed onto the floor in a heap, where he remained, still snoring quietly.

Roxas shook his head both in amusement and disgust. "Have you got our co-ordinates yet?" he turned to Riku, who had meanwhile been tampering with the ship's systems.

In reply, the older teen merely shrugged his shoulders and gestured to the screen to the left, showing a computerized image of the space just beyond the _INFI_'s walls. "What do you suppose is up with that?"

The outer edges of the screen were sprinkled with bright stars, just like in the textbooks, but in the center, it was like some huge monster had came and taken a huge bite out of the sky; because it was blacker than black, starless; yet it seemed to have some kind of substance... Liquid? Or was it more like gas? Whatever the blackness was, it seemed like it was getting closer. Like clouds, a section thinned slightly and they were granted view past the dark fog. It seemed the world hadn't been completely taken by the Heartless; yet.

"I-is that... Oh my gosh!" the girl with the stuffed animal exclaimed, the tremor in her voice betraying her fear.

"That must be how Lyflia looks," Roxas stated quietly. No one corrected him aloud, although they were all thinking, "_looked_". Well, all except one, who was thinking;

"It's beautiful," Payne sighed happily, eyes sparkling, and earning looks of annoyance from all round. That kid had always been like that; just plain weird.

Riku pulled up his sleeves took over the ship's controls, scowling. "This landing's not going to be."

"We- we're not going to land there, are we?" Plushie girl protested, holding the toy tighter than ever.

"Correction; we are going to CRASH there," came Roxas's slightly exasperated reply, said over his shoulder while trying to shut that little pain up, literally pushing him out the door. The last thing Riku needed was the distraction of the kid tugging on his arm and begging to let HIM fly.

**The INFI continued to inexorably spiral headfirst into the darkness.**


	4. Exist to Destroy

**Exist to Destroy**

Pounding footsteps. Echoing screams. The shadows spread like the plague; for every one cut down, another took its place. For every slash of the blade spent a second of running was gone, seconds which one needed if they were to make it to the _INFI_ in time. Zexion's mind, calm, cool and calculating and, as always, unphased by the turmoil, did the math. If they all ran straight for the exit only twenty one point eight three per cent could hope to reach the ship before the Shadows did. That was six or seven people. _Six or seven!_

"Take that you slimy black... Bug... Thing! Eat rock!" a voice roared, and the sounds of fists pummeling the aptly named Bugthings were actually audible.

But that wasn't what was happening. Some, like the vulgar and somewhat mentally lacking Beat, fought off the vermin, and was surprisingly effective, despite his manner of doing so. _Maybe there was still hope!_ He resumed running, sprinting, pushing his body forward with every muscle.

Claws, sharp as knives, raked down the back of Zexion's leg, sinking into his skin and causing him to scream in pain. In retaliation, he acted instinctively, whipping out his blade and plunging it into the creature's core. Since the Shadow had no concrete form, the amount of resistance the sword met was quite surprising; it was most comparable to human flab, rather than the Jell-O substance he had expected. And yet as soon as the thing was slain, it dissolved into nothing, rather like when a colored liquid is poured into water, or smoke mixes with air; swirls and coils, slowly thinning and dissipating. For a minute, he stood still, dazed; _had he really done that? _But when adrenaline like this was coursing through his body, it were as though someone had flicked a careless lit match on oil; he no longer thought, only acted and reacted.

* * *

A sob rang out through the hall, a cry not of horror or fright like the many others that resounded through the cold, stone hall, but of pain and despair. It was a child's voice.

Lexaeus tilted his head, doing his best to trace the sound while simultaneously keeping the Shadows that swarmed round his feet at bay. For some reason, unbeknownst to the sandy-haired individual, they appeared to flock to him more than any other in the room. Perhaps it was his size and build, incredibly disproportionate to his young age, and the strength it brought. In any case, it was the sound of that child, so desperate, demanding his aid, which lent him the power to finally smash the Bugthings which had so long harassed him aside. Now with a clear view ahead, he located the suffering's source; a mass of blackness, Shadows, only these were different. Unlike the bugthings Lexaeus had been fighting, which were tiny but grouped together in large numbers, these creatures were bigger. Much bigger. And the sobs continued to arise from the depths of that dark.

Another Lyflian, a girl, teal-haired, maybe a year older than Lexaeus, was fighting her way towards the mass, and when he blinked, he noticed silver tear tracks running down her cheeks. Maybe the child was a relative, a brother perhaps? And he knew she'd never make it in time.

Like a wild beast he charged, without thought, at the Gigas Shadows. He was closer. He could make it.

* * *

He sliced, stabbed, slashed; the motions that had never felt more than an awkward imitation now flowed, liquid, coming more naturally than breathing to him. Zexion had always fluffed sports class at school, and fencing had been his worst. But now...

He existed to destroy.

Now, in his battle daze, Zexion caught only the occasional glimpses of the others, perhaps their numbers were waning; the Shadows were insatiable, flinging their buglike bodies forward, golden orb eyes bulging, antennae twitching wildly, with seemingly no regard for their lives. Aqua was one that he saw, dragging a kid (_Ven? Or Roxas?_), who looked barely conscious. He thought he saw Lexaeus at one point, before his friend, even being so large as he was, was swallowed up whole in a mass of black and glowing yellow. The first time another Lyflian crossed his path, it was almost an effort not to turn the blade on them, so caught up was he in the ceaseless violence. Just in time, he managed to twist the sword's path so that instead of slashing through her shoulder, it came down on the back of a neglected little Shadow, one that had been trying to sneak up on the girl.

"Gee, thanks," she rolled her eyes. "I thought I was a goner there." As always with Arca, it wasn't clear whether she was mocking him, or mocking the danger of such a miniscule Shadow. Still under the spell, Zexion merely shrugged, but she grabbed his hand before he could turn back to the fighting. "Zexion. We have to leave, now." Arca hesitated. "Are you coming?"

Zexion looked into her deep violet eyes. Something about them was strangely calming, so much so that even he began to breath slowly, the trance fading. But not entirely. "No. No, I don't think that I am." He didn't know exactly why he made that decision. In Zexion's rational mind, it was not a rational choice. Even under the spell as he was… _Spell? Was that the right word_? But yet, it was made. When it came down to it, perhaps he couldn't leave Lyflia behind, after all.

"Well, then-" she froze; her skin, translucent in the dim light, grew even paler.

"Arca?" he blinked, uncomprehending.

Her lips parted in a silent cry, she seemed to choke on thin air; he looked down, and found that the Shadow he had struck earlier had not died. The color... The creature's color was a bit off, now that he really looked at it. A slight purple... A Vene Shadow, short for venenum. Meaning poison. Now the thing bit into the exposed flesh above her ankle, and before Zexion had time to so much as blink, Arca fell to the ground, dead.

* * *

The kid was hurt, badly. That was the first thing that Lexaeus saw, and it was hard not to. The child's shirt, grubby as it no doubt had been earlier, was now soaked in his blood. He was clearly beyond saving, yet Lexaeus couldn't just give up. Ignoring the Gigases completely, he made a grab for the kid, slinging him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, then, before the giant shadows could recover, or realize what was going on; he ran, ran without stopping, until he was aboard the _INFI_.

* * *

_No more. No more could die here._ He continued to slaughter Shadows left and right, but now Zexion seemed drained of his earlier, possessive rage, instead fueled by a kind of weary despair. He also focused more on saving the humans, rather than destroying the hordes, and went out of his way to help others. _No more mistakes. No more Arcas._

"Go on," he managed to get out, though by now his lungs were screaming for air, and his throat really was like sandpaper, as he encountered Riku and some girl having trouble with the Shadows which blocked their path. He gave Riku a look to say, _I'll handle this._ It was strange, he thought, hearing the patter of their feet as they fled, how he, Zexion, the nerd, bookworm, he so disinclined to any form of physical activity, should be the one here, defending, fighting, and Riku, the complete opposite, and in fact two years his senior, should be the one leaving.

But, he realized now, he wouldn't- couldn't have- had it any other way. Not anymore.

Something in him had changed.

* * *

It wasn't until much later that Lexaeus noticed how all trace of blood had dissolved, impossibly, from the child's clothes. His breathing was steady and regular, as was his heartbeat. **The boy was alive, uninjured and safe aboard the INFI. And Lexaeus had no idea how.**


End file.
